During the course of numerous medical and surgical techniques, it is common to drain fluids from various cavities as well as to inject fluids into cavities. It is common to place a tube through the nose and esophagus into the stomach to keep the stomach pumped dry during surgery on the abdomen or intestines. Tubes are inserted into the urinary bladder to drain urine when a patient does not have normal bladder function, and tubes are placed into the abdomen and/or chest to drain fluid in various disease states.
Various types of tubes or catheters have been proposed and have been manufactured from various types of plastic material. Problems have developed with such tubes in that the tube material irritated the surrounding cavity tissue and that the tubes would collapse upon the application of suction. Additionally, existing tubes are generally rigid making it difficult to insert a catheter where curves are present such as, for example, where a catheter is placed upward through the nose, around the pharynx and down through the esophagus.
A need has thus arisen for a tubular surgical device that can be easily inserted into a cavity of the body, does not collapse under suction and which does not cause irritation and infection of the surrounding cavity tissue.